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How to Setup you Benelli M1 or M2 for 3 Gun


Jesse Tischauser

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The question of what do I need to do to my Benelli to get it ready for 3 gun comes up a lot! The most obvious answer is to send it to Mike at Accurate Iron, Benny Hill at Triangle Shooting Sprorts or Salient with a blank check. But for those of you that are interested in what you are going to get here is the list of things I (meaning Kurt Miller and Mike Cyrwus) have done to my Benelli M1 & M2 to make them winners.

To customize the Benelli M1/2 for 3 gun you will want the following accessories. I will start from the muzzle and work my way to the butt stock.

Briley Extended Choke Tubes The M1 uses the Mobile Sport choke system. The M2 uses the CRIO Plus choke system. The black choke tubes look blend nicely with your barrel and mag tube moreso than the stainless ones do. I run a Diffusion, Light Modified, and a on a rare occasion a Full choke. Light Modified is used about 98% of the time in 3 gun. If you only have the jack for one choke. Get the LM.

+5 or +6 Nordic Components Extended Magazine Tube. The +5 tube will allow you to run an 8+1 configuration in your Benelli. A lot of shooters like the +6 tube so that they can run 9+1 at matches that allow you to add more ammo after the buzzer. Since a lot of stages are setup with 9-10 rounds this allows you to add one more shell ASAP to the tube after the buzzer goes off and avoid that dreaded and slow slide lock reload.

Hi Viz Tri Comp Front Sight There are a bunch of options in shotgun front sights out there so this item is definitely a personal preference one. I will say that Hi Viz is a huge sponsor of 3 gun and other shooting sports so buying from them is supporting the sport. This model comes with green, red, and white light pipes. Each color comes with a small round, large round, and a triangular shape pipe.

Nordic Components Shotgun Tube Clamp This is not a must have option as the magazine extensions are pretty damn tough. That being said there are horror stories out there of people breaking mag extension tubes when grounding their gun in a barrel or banging them into a wall/port or just shooting with them unclamped so much that the horrific recoil impulse shakes them enough to induce a fatigue faliure in the threads. Personally, I don't run one unless I need to run a sling on my shotgun. It just adds more weight up fon the front of the gun. Slinging shotguns is not done at most matches but it is required at some. This is definately an item you can order at a later date when required by the match you plan to attend. You could also borrow your buddies as he will not be shooting at the same time that you are shooting. You should be aware that you can change the point of impact of your slugs significantly when you clamp one of these on your shotgun barrrel. So test your gun before the match the see if the POA and POI shift with the clamp attatched.

10-32 X 1/2" Dome Stud This screws into the Nordic Barrel Clamp. It allows you to attach your sling's sling swivel to the front end of your Benelli.

Viking Tactics Padded Sling The padded version is the way to go here.

QD Sling Swivel This goes on the barrel end of your VTAC sling and attaches to the 10-32 X 1/2" Dome Stud. Any old brand will do. You probably already have a set or five of these in the closet already.

10/22 Folding Rear Sight To aid in sight alignment when shooting slugs the 10/22 rear sight is very popular. I have a hole drilled into the back of my vent rib and it is painted white. I aligned the the white hole in the vent rib with the front fiber optic light pipe for windage alignment. Another good option I have seen here is to dovetail a XS Big Dot rear wedge style sight into the rear of the vent rib. This one is personal preference. The 10/22 is the most precise but the largest even though it folds down. The hole drilled into the rib is the least precise but does not obstruct your vision when not in use. The XS sight is a compromise between the 10/22 and the hole in the rib.

Stippled Forearm and Pistol Grip - The plastic used on the Benelli forearm and stock are kind of slick. I have tried grip tape but it always wears down and usually moves around too. Get a good sandpaper or scalloped stippling job done for sure.

Lifter Welded Up, Extended, and Tuned This is the one thing you cannot live without on your Benelli. The stock lifter will trap your thumb in the loading port when you least expect it. C-Rums is the only place that I know fo that welds/extends them. Accurate Iron is one f the few gunsmiths that know how to tune them to your gun.

Ported and Polished Loading Port The loading port is pretty tight from the factory. If you want to speed up your reloads both weak and strong handed you gotta open this baby up. It will also save your thumb from wear and tear during the hours and hours and hours of reloading practice.

Bolt Lightened and Modified Reduced felt recoil. Plus the Accurate Iron bolt just looks badass! The other modifications allow you to be able to load the gun if the bolt is out of battery and you can load an extra round on the lifter (ghost load). Some M1's will allow you load a round on the lifter in the stock configuration.

Extended/Oversized Bolt Handle I like the Nordic Component standard handle. Nordic's new Big Fat handle is nice as well if you want more to grab onto.

Side Saddle If you plan to load with your strong hand you are going to have to run some rounds on the side of your gun. The Otto Products or 3 Gun Gear are both great.

Slide Lock 2 Round Caddy Running out of ammo is inevitable with a shotgun so why not plan for it? These caddies put the ammo right next to the loading port. I should mention that these caddies can interfere with some methods of racking the bolt which is why I do not use one currently.

Oversized Bolt Release These are almost a must have item. They provide a larger footprint to bump when you have to load from slide lock and get a round in the chamber quick. There is no searching just get close. The Dave's Metal Works and the Arredondo button are my favorites.

Oversized Safety Button This is only needed on the M1. The M2 comes with a large button from the factory.

Viking Tactics Sling Buttstock Adapter The VTAC sling requires you to attach the sling at the top rear of the buttstock. You can't use the hole that is molded into the bottom of the stock and effectively deploy the VTAC sling. If you want to go old school you can run a sling swivel through the factory loop but its not as fast because you can really only sling over your shoulder or back with that method.

Limbsaver Recoil Pad This is most often times used on the M1 models as they do not come with the Comfortech Stock.

Here are some pics of the Accurtate Iron 21" Benelli M2 with the full race package. Benelli-11.jpg

Benelli-2.jpg

Benelli-10.jpg

Benelli-4.jpg

Benelli-8.jpg

Benelli-3.jpg

Edited by jtischauser
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Well first off lightening the bolt carrier DOES NOT allow lighter loads, never has never will. Second a big bolt handle is the last thing a good shotugn needs. I have seen many break and fly off after it comes in contact with a prop. I don't run a barrel clamp and after 15 short years in this game I have never bent or broken a tube., but if it makes you happy do it. For a Benelli to be "Race Ready", it needs a longer tube, a welded up carrier if you load weak hand, and a bit better front sight, as the one they come with is way too small. Save all that time and money and go practice and shoot, after a while the gun will tell you what it needs. IE. many a person has posted that weak-hand loading practice turns my thum to hamburger.....well it is telling you where you need to round and smooth. It shouldn't hurt to load your gun! KurtM

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Well first off lightening the bolt carrier DOES NOT allow lighter loads, never has never will. Second a big bolt handle is the last thing a good shotugn needs. I have seen many break and fly off after it comes in contact with a prop. I don't run a barrel clamp and after 15 short years in this game I have never bent or broken a tube., but if it makes you happy do it. For a Benelli to be "Race Ready", it needs a longer tube, a welded up carrier if you load weak hand, and a bit better front sight, as the one they come with is way too small. Save all that time and money and go practice and shoot, after a while the gun will tell you what it needs. IE. many a person has posted that weak-hand loading practice turns my thum to hamburger.....well it is telling you where you need to round and smooth. It shouldn't hurt to load your gun! KurtM

Thanks for clarifying that lightened bolt situation Kurt. I always get that wrong. It doesn make it cycle faster and reduce felt recoil doesn't it?

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Springs can be real important in terms of reliability. A lighter recoil spring from Wolf is an option. I like the HiViz Sparq II front sight. $7 from Brownell. That said, I watched Carl Carbon run a stock Benelli M1 at the PanAm Shotgun Match last summer without one hiccup and do real well with it. Jesse's mentioning the tuning of the lifter is real important. I have seen so much extra metal put on lifters that they simply do not flip up and down correctly (without going in to detail) and with various welded lifters you can almost feel the timing going off and reach up to put the bolt into battery as it happens. Put just enough metal on there to close the hole up, keeping the overall shape the same. Polish just enough, you don't need to shave with it. It is probably better to let someone else, who knows what they are doing, do the work now, because the price of these things has risen dramatically and it is real easy to take off too much metal. Experience is what you pay for from a quality gunsmith. Benny Hill, Rob Melhorn, and the others mentioned by Jesse are all super quality smiths. There are others.I do like doing the Tom Knapp thing with my stock M1, so shoot your gun like Kurt says before you do anything to it. Then you know what you need.

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Nordic mag tubes: How long should the spring be for the +5 tube? Is there a certain Length the spring should be more than the tube before it's compressed?

M2 field front sight: Is the factory fibre optic front sight threaded in? Ie., I can take it off and add a HiViz one without any tooling??

Edited by banger
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Cut your spring down to 10-14" sticking out past the end of the tube when the end cap is removed.

The factory bead is screwed on. You can put a HiViz on yourself but a good gunsmith will stake it so it can spin sideways when you bumpnit on a prop or when tossing it in a barrel.

Edited by jtischauser
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  • 2 weeks later...

I have an older Benelli M1S90 with ghost ring sights on a plain barrel.

I'd like to add a FO front sight. It looks like my front sight post is held

on by a nut under the front sight base. Has anybody switched one of these?

Is the base threaded where the post goes through?

Is this a good solution for that? Easy switch?

Brownells FO sight

Thanks!

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  • 3 months later...

I have an older Benelli M1S90 with ghost ring sights on a plain barrel.

I'd like to add a FO front sight. It looks like my front sight post is held

on by a nut under the front sight base. Has anybody switched one of these?

Is the base threaded where the post goes through?

Is this a good solution for that? Easy switch?

Brownells FO sight

Thanks!

Yes and no. Yes, it will work on on the M1S90 but my gunsmith said he had a tough time putting it on.

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For a Benelli to be "Race Ready", it needs a longer tube, a welded up carrier if you load weak hand, and a bit better front sight

It doesnt need the welded carrier either. Ive had too many problems with welded carriers so I just use a stock one now. And yes I do load weak hand.

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For a Benelli to be "Race Ready", it needs a longer tube, a welded up carrier if you load weak hand, and a bit better front sight

It doesnt need the welded carrier either. Ive had too many problems with welded carriers so I just use a stock one now. And yes I do load weak hand.

I want to see a picture of your left thumb.

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My gunsmith (Chester Cox in Charleston) is awesome and did a great job on my M1 carrier. He's going to work on my M2 carrier next week so no problems so far, just need the right gunsmith to do the job.

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I do not have a welded carrier either. No thumb problems ever, not to say never could happen. 100 percent stock M1, only mods are a Nordic tube and follower. My extractor is very worn and needs to be replaced however

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What is the aprox cost of all these upgrades? seems like you could double the cost of the gun...

If you get a ton of expensive parts but normally should be no more than $300-400 for most upgrades. My gunsmith did mine for about that much and he welded the carrier, opened the well, the tube and polished it, drilled and tapped for release and put it on, took off the older stuff, put new springs in, put in an oversized safety and worked the safety, drilled and tapped the front sight, and a few other small things...I already had a lightened bolt from another guy and I was ready. I'm doing the same thing to my M2 this week with him. If you need contact info, I can send it to you...

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What is the aprox cost of all these upgrades? seems like you could double the cost of the gun...

If you get a ton of expensive parts but normally should be no more than $300-400 for most upgrades. My gunsmith did mine for about that much and he welded the carrier, opened the well, the tube and polished it, drilled and tapped for release and put it on, took off the older stuff, put new springs in, put in an oversized safety and worked the safety, drilled and tapped the front sight, and a few other small things...I already had a lightened bolt from another guy and I was ready. I'm doing the same thing to my M2 this week with him. If you need contact info, I can send it to you...

The parts I listed in the first post cost about $300-400 without labor. What r u leaving out?

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What is the aprox cost of all these upgrades? seems like you could double the cost of the gun...

If you get a ton of expensive parts but normally should be no more than $300-400 for most upgrades. My gunsmith did mine for about that much and he welded the carrier, opened the well, the tube and polished it, drilled and tapped for release and put it on, took off the older stuff, put new springs in, put in an oversized safety and worked the safety, drilled and tapped the front sight, and a few other small things...I already had a lightened bolt from another guy and I was ready. I'm doing the same thing to my M2 this week with him. If you need contact info, I can send it to you...

The parts I listed in the first post cost about $300-400 without labor. What r u leaving out?

Yeah, you are right. However, I was saying "most" of the parts that really help the shotgun run better/more comfortable should be less. That is a great list, by the way! And you're right, the bolt does look awesome!

Have you ever tried the Hi Viz Four-in-One sight set? I'm thinking of putting that on my M2

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What is the aprox cost of all these upgrades? seems like you could double the cost of the gun...

If you get a ton of expensive parts but normally should be no more than $300-400 for most upgrades. My gunsmith did mine for about that much and he welded the carrier, opened the well, the tube and polished it, drilled and tapped for release and put it on, took off the older stuff, put new springs in, put in an oversized safety and worked the safety, drilled and tapped the front sight, and a few other small things...I already had a lightened bolt from another guy and I was ready. I'm doing the same thing to my M2 this week with him. If you need contact info, I can send it to you...

The parts I listed in the first post cost about $300-400 without labor. What r u leaving out?

Yeah, you are right. However, I was saying "most" of the parts that really help the shotgun run better/more comfortable should be less. That is a great list, by the way! And you're right, the bolt does look awesome!

Have you ever tried the Hi Viz Four-in-One sight set? I'm thinking of putting that on my M2

The only thing you really need on this list is the mag extension. Well you don't even need that if you can load really fast. The 2nd thing most people need is the lifter weleded. Those two can be done for $120 last time I checked.

I have 2-3 different fiber optic beads on my 4 Benellis. The one I personally like best is the one I listed. I am nto sure if I have the one you mention or not. Post a link so we can check it out.

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